Talk Synopsis:Evolution is one of the most well-established principles in biology—indeed, it’s the central unifying principle of all the biological sciences. There is a mountain of evidence for evolution, derived from many areas, including biogeography, embryology, molecular biology, the fossil record, DNA sequencing, and so on. Yet, despite this evidence, 40% of Americans accept a purely creationist view of life, rejecting evolution, and another 30% think that evolution had some divine guidance. Many more people in other countries also reject evolution. In this talk I’ll lay out what I see as the five claims of the theory of evolution, discuss the evidence supporting those claims, and analyze why such a well-supported idea is largely rejected.

About the speaker: Jerry A. Coyne is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago. Coyne’s work has been largely concerned with the genetics of species differences, aimed at understanding the evolutionary processes that produce new species. He has written 115 refereed scientific papers and 150 popular articles, book reviews, and columns, as well as a scholarly book about his research area—Speciation, co-authored with H. Allen Orr—and a trade book about the evidence for evolution—Why Evolution is True, a New York Times bestseller. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a recipient of the 2011 “Emperor Has No Clothes” Award from the Freedom from Religion Foundation as well as the 2015 Richard Dawkins Award from the American Alliance of America. For more information, visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Coyne.